Weald
The Weald, or Great Weald, is a forested region of Erwt . Several stories in the canon take place there. Geography The Great Weald is located at 1 o'clock on the Face of Erwt, neighboring the Samalan arctic to the east and the Gutreal mountains to the west. The Weald is topographically quite flat, except at the foothills of the Gutreal mountains, and contains a great river (the Wendworn), along with a smaller river (the Lyster). Politics The region is controlled by three nations: the Republic of Greater Lysternum ruled by Dark Lord Chaert, the People's Democratic Republic of Bannoch, and seaside Eyrum. The Republic of Greater Lysternum, now ruled by the Wizard Lord Chaert, has one city, Lysternum. The country's main industry revolves around its great softwood forests, which supply building materials to much of the world. The city of Lysternum is on the inner coast, and is a busy port city will a large, well-protected harbor. The name of the city, and hence the country, stems from the ancient lighthouse on the (apparently natural, but geologically unlikely) shield wall. It burns with an inexhaustible magical fire, which was last relit by the arch-mage Asterix long before the time of the Redeemer, after it had been extinguished to mourn the death of a conceited Wizard-King. It is manned around the clock by a team of specially selected and carefully trained craftsmen who maintain and adjust the array of mirrors and lenses to no great purpose (aside from cleaning and polishing). The People's Democratic Republic of Bannoch, the home of Grennoch City, Haddoch City, and Reddoch, Helting, Ferroch forests, is a country with huge hardwood assets, useful for shipbuilding and furniture, etc. It's therefore the richest of the three countries of the Weald. It is, however, landlocked (except for its useless outer coast), so the great logs are floated down the wide and slow Wendworn River, which passes through Eyrum to the inner sea. Bannoch is governed by the Great Council of the Weald, which had ruled over the entire Landscape from the time of the Redeemer until 140 years ago, when it was decided that dividing the country would benefit Eyrum, Greater Lysternum, and Bannoch economically. An agreement between Eyrum and Bannoch, in place since the division, ensures Bannoch retains ownership of the logs until Point of Sale downriver, while Eyrum benefits from the merchant and trade traffic at Point of Sale, at the mouth of the Wendworn, as well as from the woodworking, cutting, shipbuilding, and carpentry that takes place in Chenning, a little bit down the coast. Eyrum also has a bit of domestic forestry, but the wood is of obviously inferior quality to Bannoch's and Lysternum's magnificent trees, so it's only for their own use and not exported. Because of this rather odd configuration, houses and public buildings, furniture and ships, in Eyrum often look shabby and dilapidated, often showing signs of rot, wood-eating parasites, or mold. This is especially true of industrial Chenning, the larger of the two towns. Point of Sale's shore-facing merchant district, and the public-sector buildings, are built and decorated using the more expensive import woods (well, at least the facades), while the other quarters of the city are as shabby as Chenning. Inhabitants The people of the Weald (Wealdans) have fair-to-olive skin, tend to have dark hair, often with streaks of red, and speak the Wealdan dialect of Common, which is light and lilting, lisping the s and with a crisp, rolling r. They tend to speak directly, but never bluntly, seeing uncouched criticism as disrespectful and impolite. They have a very conscious awareness of sustainability and the long view, without which their forest assets would have dwindled to nothing long ago. For similar reasons, they are traditionalists, preferring tried methods that have been shown to work satisfactorily over new ideas or methods that may be improvements over the old. Arguments from experience are more often successful in changing opinions than theoretical or principal arguments. They are leery of magic, having no use for it, next to no knowledge of it, and no experience of it at all except for the lighthouse. Stories Hanged_Man Hansel_and_Gretel Sleeping_Beauty To_Kill_a_WizardCategory:Place